For this week’s Why Waste Wednesday, we’ll teach you another easy way to recycle your old calendars. Old calendars are an excellent alternative to wrap gifts for your friends and family. Whether it’s a birthday or anniversary you can make your gift stand out with a personal touch. You can even make bows out of them! Check out the tutorials below to learn more:(more…)

For the second part of our “How to Reuse Your Old Calendars” series, we’re sharing some great crafting tips and ideas to inspire you to reuse your old calendars instead of throwing them in the trash can at the end of the year.

If you use a large desk pad as a calendar, you can now use your old desk pad as a crafting table. Because of desk calendars’ typically large size, they make the perfect space for you to paint, glue, decoupage, and do whatever else you need to do in your D.I.Y. adventures without worrying about making a mess on your work space. Then, just tear off the page when you’re done crafting to have a new clean craft space.

Make cards! Calendar art can be turned into beautiful and unique greeting cards for your loved ones.

Buy an origami book and teach yourself some new origami tricks! Use calendar pages to make decorative origami boxes, cranes, and whatever else your heart desires.

Use calendar art and numbers alongside your scrapbook photos. Use calendar pieces as embellishments around your photos or use calendar boxes or numbers to mark when important and memorable events happened in your scrapbook.

Cut your old calendar into strips and make bookmarks.

Use old calendar art to make puzzles! Glue an entire picture to cardstock and cut out various jigsaw-shaped pieces. If the calendar has thumbnail images on the back cover, these can be used as the completed puzzle view to work from. Store pieces in a ziplock box or small container.

You can use old calendar images that are large enough to make placemats by placing clear contact paper over them or by laminating them. If calendar photos are too small, you can place the images on poster board or cardstock that is larger in a color that is complementary.

Make postcards to send to relatives and friends who live in other places by gluing old calendar art to cardstock to make it durable enough for mailing.

This month we’ll be doing a four part series on how to reuse and recycle your old calendars! Part one of our series will focus on practical every day uses for your old calendars. We’ve compiled a short list to inspire you to hold on to those old calendars instead of chucking them in the garbage can at the end of the year.

Make decorative envelopes out of your old calendars.

Use your old desk calendar as a recipe holder in your kitchen or convert it into a picture stand. Desk calendars are made to stand up on their own, so by adding a small dowel rod to the bottom with glue, you can make it the perfect holder for your recipe cards or for photos of your family and friends.

Renew your old monthly calendars with nail polish or white out. Simply paint over the days of the week at the top of the calendar, look up a calendar for the current year and write over the paint with the correct day.

Old calendars make great chore or reward charts for your kids. If you have any calendars that still have blank space, you can write down daily chores for your children or mark days with stickers in which children do something to be proud of. This will help encourage good behavior in your little one!

Cut your old calendars and fold them into envelopes. Old calendars, especially those with great artwork can make very decorative and creative looking envelopes.

If you plan ahead, you can look up a perpetual calendar and use your calendar again on a year which will have the same schedule. For example 2013 calendars will have the same dates as 2019 and 2030.

Rather than spending money on cabinet and drawer liner, why not use old calendars as liner?

Pictures from old calendars can be cut out and laminated and used to put under things like kitchen appliances and plants to help keep your counter tops and floors clean.

Stay tuned for the rest of November to see more of our “How to Reuse Your Old Calendars” series.

This Earth Day, make a pledge to be green and save some green! By following the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle mantra, you can help the environment while helping your wallet. Take a look at the list below, and try to find at least one thing you can change or improve.

Reduce:

1. Gas – The cost of gas is no joke. Carpooling with a spouse or coworker even one day a week can make a significant difference on emissions and how often you need to fill your tank. If your job allows it, you could also try working from home a few days a month, or working four 10 hour days to save a trip a week. If you are one of those lucky enough to live close to work, try walking or biking on nice days.
2. Electricity – Even when turned off, anything connected to a plug sucks energy. Try to unplug items that you aren’t using, or at least those that you don’t use very often. If your outlets are hard to get to, plug several electronics into a power strip that you can just flip off when you need to. Another easy way to save on electricity is to switch to Energy Star qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs.
3. Water – Simply turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth can save enough water to make a difference, but there are several other ways to conserve water around your house. Get a low-flow toilet, or for a cheaper option, displace the water in the tank with a plastic water bottle or rocks. This will leave enough water to flush, but reduce the excess water that isn’t needed to do the job. Also, modern dishwashers tend to use less water than hand washing, and professional car washes use less than you would at home.
4. Paper/Plastic/Styrofoam – Do you find yourself constantly leaving notes around your house for yourself or others? Pick a central place in the home and put up a dry erase board instead! Another easy way to reduce the amount of paper/plastic you use is to move away from paper plates and plastic utensils. It is actually better for the environment to use the little bit of water to wash a plate and fork than to throw away disposable dishes. You should also take your own coffee mug and/or water bottle to work. By keeping these items at work and rinsing them daily, you are lowering the amount of trash you produce.

Reuse:

1. Containers – Those boxes or plastic containers are perfect for home or office organization! Simply cover them with wrapping paper or pretty duct tape to make them match your current décor.
2. Compost – Potato skins, egg shells, vegetable stems, coffee grounds, leaves, and even dryer lint can all be reused to fertilize your lawn or garden. Learn the basics of composting.
3. Water – Get a rain barrel and use the water for your lawn, garden, or outdoor water feature. You can also use this water to bathe your pets or wash your car.
4. Tools – Most homes will purchase a tool for one job then let it sit in the garage or shed for years. Buy cheaper tools at a garage sale, borrow from a friend or family member, or rent from a home improvement store.

Recycle:

1. The staples – Most neighborhoods and offices now allow you to recycle paper, plastics, and aluminum. The lucky ones can even recycle glass containers.
2. Electronics – Donate or recycle old phones, computers, or pretty much any other electronic device. A quick Google search can give you local recycling options, and many of them will actually pay you!
3. Styrofoam – This one is a bit more tricky, but can be done. For those that shop online, you may have an excess of Styrofoam packing or packing peanuts. Many shipping stores such as FedEx or UPS will take those packing peanuts off your hands, but larger chunks have to be recycled at a certain facility. Visit Earth911.com and enter your zip code to find a drop-off location near you!
4. Batteries – Batteries should never be thrown away with your normal trash. If there is a Best Buy near you, they normally accept batteries and recycle or dispose of them properly. You can also visit batteryrecycling.com for other options.

We’re not sure what the purpose of this holiday is – stress relief, recycling, proving one’s masculinity…For whatever reason you celebrate Crush a Can Day, get to crushing those empty cans you have lying around!

When you’re done with all your can crushing fun, recycle! Why? Learn more about the benefits of recycling aluminum cans at Earth911.com, then use the site’s search tool to find a recycling center for aluminum cans in your area.